1. Field of the Invention:
This invention relates in general to electronic mail systems and in particular to electronic mail systems which permit multiple end users to share access to an electronic mail object. Still more particularly the present invention relates to methods for providing a user dependent status indication for such shared mail objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
The electronic mail is rapidly supplanting Post Office mail as a means for communicating between individuals. One significant advantage of electronic mail is that the transmission time associated with each electronic mail message is ordinarily only seconds, or fractions of a second, as compared to Post Office mail which ordinarily requires several days.
The mailing time associated with Post Office mail often causes significant delay in the conduct of business and has been largely ignored, and consequently tolerated, until the advent of Express Mail services and electronic mail. Currently, this widespread delay of business is identified as "float" and the minimizing or eliminating of this float has become one goal of business managers, efficiency experts and others hoping to increase societal productivity.
The widespread utilization and increased sophistication of electronic mail systems have given rise to a problem wherein multiple users are permitted to share access to a particular mail object. The difficulty associated with such systems revolves around the inability of end users within the system to determine the status of a particular mail object with regard to a particular end user due to the fact that the mail object may have been accessed by multiple users.
Thus, it should be obvious that a need exists for a method for providing a user dependent status indication suitable for utilization with shared electronic mail objects.